Zakariya Isa

Nigeria Television Authority

October 22, 2011, in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group that seeks
the imposition of Shariah law in the predominantly Muslim states of northern
Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the murder of Isa,
41, a reporter and cameraman for the state-run Nigeria Television
Authority, or NTA, in the northeastern state of Borno, according to local
journalists and news reports.

About
a month before the killing, Boko Haram had issued a statement saying it would attack
media organizations for what it described as misrepresentations of its
activities, according to press reports. Journalists
told CPJ that Boko Haram perceived cameramen and photographers, particularly
those working for state media, as potential spies.

In an emailed
statement issued after the killing, Boko Haram spokesman Abul Qaqa said the
militants killed Isa "because he was spying on us for Nigerian security
authorities," according to Agence
France-Presse. Local journalists and Nigerian authorities said the assertion
was untrue, AFP reported.